Teen sleep targeted in later school start times

Elaine Thompson, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Published Sunday September 15, 2013 at 10:02 pm

Updated Sunday September 15, 2013 at 10:41 pm

PHOTO/ T&G Staff/TOM RETTIG

Donna M. Hurton of Webster, a special education inclusion teacher at Webster Middle School and mother of four teenagers, believes it's a parent's responsibility to make sure children do their homework, turn off the electronics and are in bed at a reasonable time.

In the 2011-12 school year, after years of regularly seeing students half asleep in class, Nauset Regional High School on the Cape decided to delay the start of the school day by 65 minutes.

Thomas Conrad, principal of the 1,000-plus student school in North Eastham, said the preliminary findings show that with the 8:30 a.m. start time, there has been a 53 percent drop in the number of failing grades, and the number of days students were suspended for disciplinary reasons dropped from 166 to 19.

"I think generally, it's safe to say that in the discussions in our communities no one argued with the research. I think everybody at the high school level has always embraced it," said Mr. Conrad.

Nauset is among a small number of high schools in Massachusetts that has recognized the decades of research that shows adolescents, and teens in particular, naturally fall asleep later at night and sleep later in the morning.

When they get sufficient sleep, they awake more alert, resulting in an increase in academic performance and a decrease in dropout rates, absenteeism, tardiness, and disciplinary problems, among other benefits, according to some studies.

Because of this research and the success of hundreds of school districts in 28 states that have changed to later start times, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan earlier this month suggested that local school districts should consider it.

Donna M. Hurton, a Webster Middle School teacher and mother of four teens, said while she agrees that teens need more sleep, she's not sure starting school later would ensure that they get it. She said it's the parent's responsibility to make sure their children do their homework, turn off the electronics and are in bed at a reasonable time.

"I've had sixth-graders tell me they were up until 11 or 12 o'clock. Usually that makes me say back to them, 'Do you have someone in your house telling you to go to bed?' They say, 'Yes. But, my mother doesn't know I'm up.'"

Mrs. Hurton said when she asks what they are doing while they're up, most say they're on their computer or some other electronic device.

The issue has been studied by several districts throughout Central Massachusetts over the past couple of decades. And while many superintendents agree with the research and say they would like to start school later, they cite several reasons why they haven't, including after-school activities, athletics, bus schedules, jobs and the need for teens to care for younger siblings after school.

Mr. Conrad said his Nauset sports games are now scheduled on Saturdays, on teacher professional development days when students are out of school and some before the start of the school year.

"The other piece of it is we're very strict about letting them out of school to go to athletic events, except for state tournaments. The vast majority of high school athletes will not be making their living by sports. It will be by academic abilities," Mr. Conrad said. "With such an early start time, we weren't working efficiently."

Amy R. Wolfson, a psychology professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester who is a renowned sleep expert, said she is happy the education secretary has put the issue at the national forefront. Ms. Wolfson has done research and edited and written books dealing with sleep needs of young people. She is also on the advisory board of Start School Later, a Maryland-based national nonprofit dealing with the issue on a national level.

Ms. Wolfson said we have known since research in the 1980s that because of when melatonin peaks and the core body temperature drops, teens are "more owl-like than lark-like." Adolescents need 8½ to 9-½ hours of sleep each night. Many, however, get less than seven hours.

"When adolescents hit puberty as they're developing, there is a delay in the biological timing of their sleep. There are plenty of other things that can make it worse like cellphones, caffeine … that can keep you up. But, even with that, sleep will be delayed in adolescents due to the shift of the timing of sleep."

The professor said she embarked on a study in the 2002-2003 school year when three of the four middle schools in Worcester shifted starting times from 7:15 a.m. to 8:37 a.m. The reason for the shift had nothing to do with sleep; rather, it helped with some bus scheduling, she said. Data was collected in the fall and spring from two of the middle schools with the later start time and the one that kept the early start time. What was most striking about the data, she said, was that there were four times fewer tardies at the later start-time schools. Also, eighth graders at the schools starting later had significantly higher grades.

She said she finds it disconcerting that the starting time at Worcester East Middle School was subsequently switched back to 7:15 a.m. because some teachers and principals preferred the earlier time.

"It's crucial to delay school start time, but you also have to educate parents, children, teachers and administrators about the importance of sleep in the same way we educate them about nutrition and exercise," she said.

Brian A. O'Connell, vice chairman of the Worcester School Committee, has been a proponent of later school start times for nearly half of the 30 years he has been on the committee. He said the matter has been assigned to a standing committee on teaching, learning and student supports since 2002 while he and other advocates monitored research by Professor Wolfson and others.

"I would love to see us try it," he said. "The Nauset school ... that's graphic proof that when we start school later, students can and will do better. This is an idea whose time has truly come. When people focus on the academic best interest of the students, they tend to support a later start time. It's when other issues come into the mix that the issue becomes complex," added Mr. O'Connell.

Shrewsbury School Superintendent Joseph Sawyer said in 2003 the district convened a School Start Time Committee that reviewed, researched and surveyed the community and had a public discussion about the issue. Among the committee's recommendations was that the high school should begin no earlier than 8 a.m.

He said the district's ultimate conclusion was that making school start times significantly later would be logistically undesirable and/or cost prohibitive because of the three-tier transportation model, where the same bus transports high school, then middle, then elementary students. Other considerations included the potential impact on after-school activities and athletics, especially at the high school level.

Ultimately, the high school start time moved from 7:25 to 7:35 a.m., and from 7:45 a.m. and 7:55 a.m. at the middle schools to 8 a.m.

Some Central Massachusetts high schools begin as early as 7:10 a.m., such as Doherty Memorial in Worcester. But several, including West Brookfield, Hopedale, Nashoba Regional and Quaboag Regional, begin at 7:40 a.m. Before 2003, classes for Quaboag Regional High School students began at 7:15 a.m.

"I think 8:30 a.m. or 9 a.m. would be ideal," said Michael L. Wood, superintendent of the Bolton-based Nashoba Regional School District. Mr. Wood said he is a huge proponent of changing start times to better align with the research on sleep and learning in adolescents, and he has presented on the topic to his colleagues at a Massachusetts Association of School Committee Conference.

"I can say that the data around the late starts during the midterm and final exam weeks has been very encouraging. From that data it would suggest most students benefit from the later start."